Advertising motor-vehicle.



m. 658,960.v 'Mmmmv oct. 2,1900.

A. F. RANDALL. ADVERTISING MOTOR VEHICLE'.

(Application led Mar. l?, 1899.)

(No Model.)i

If.. l

NITED `YSTATES ARTHUR F. RANDALL,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HENRY M. WHITE, OF SAME PLACE.

l ADVERTISING MOTOR-VEHICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 658,960, dated October 2, 1900.

Application filed March 171899. Serial No. 709,396. (No model.)

T0 a/ZZ whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR-F. RANDALL, of Boston, inthe county of Suffolk and State` of Massachusetts, have invented certain nevi7 and useful Improvements in Advertising Motor-Vehicles, of which the following is a de-` scription sufciently full, clear, and exact to enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains or with which it is most nearly connected to make and use the same.

This inventionv has relation to wagons and carriages constructed and equipped for the purpose of displaying advertisements to thepublic as they are run or driven along streets and roadways.

Itis my purpose in carrying out-this invention to layhold upon the so-called horseless vehicle or automobile and combine therewith movable or shifting advertisements or signs with other advertising devices in such a manner as to make the said advertising means attractive and valuable to a maxi# mum degree. K

To these ends my invention consists of a motor-vehicle provided with a body or frame adapted to display advertisements or Ysigns to the public and movable advertising devices capable of lbeing automatically shifted from time to time for the purpose of bringing different advertisements linto view and 1 attracting the attention of the public thereto. rThe shifting or changing of the advertising means or devices is accomplished automatically and by the means which drives the vehicle, all as I will now proceed to set forth i-n detail. l

Reference is to be had to the annexed drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, forming a part'of this specification,

the same letters designating the same parts or features, as the case may be, wherever they occur.

Of the drawings, Figure l is a side view of a motor-vehicle embodying my invention, a portion being represented in section in order to clearly illustrate a Way of 'constructing and a mode of operating the device. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View of whatis shown in Fig. l.

In the drawings, @designates the runninggear, and b the body, of a motor or horseless vehicle equipped with my invention. Each side of the carriage-body as it is represented herein comprises a centrally-arranged frame c, havinga rectangular opening therethrough, with an extension d at each side of the said frame made in the form of a bottle. There is a panel e above the frame c and a panel f below it. This form of body is not, however, essential, but is portrayed merely for the 6o purpose of showing the designs that may be employed which will render attractive surfaces upon which advertisements may be displayed. 'In practice I may use mirrors or other things in the -sides of the body upon which to paint or trace advertisements and employ other forms besides bott-les.

Within the body b the motor g, of any suitable kind, maybe carried, from which motion is imparted to the carriage, as shown or in 7o any other eflicient way. From the motor g motion is communicated to a short shaft h, upon which a bevel-gear h is arranged, which bevel-gear is engaged on opposite sides by the bevel-pinions afi', arranged to turn loosely 75 on the longitudinally and horizontally arranged shaft j, carrying the roll la, journaled below which is a corresponding roll Z. On the opposite side of the body, journaled in suitable bearings, are the rolls lo' and Z. The 8o lower rolls are connected with and rotated by belt-and-pulley connections with the upper rolls, and the roll 7d is driven by a like connection with the roll k. (See Fig. 2.) The rolls may be operated in one direction or the other by shifting the clutch m, splined on the shaft j, so as to connect one bevel-pinion or the other with the said shaft', so as to turn it as the pinion is turned by its engagement with the bevel-gear h. The clutch m has a 9o pendent lever n connected with it, which lever is connected with a lever o at the front of the carriage-body, the latter lever being in a position to be reached and moved by the motorman sitting on the seat p.

The belt q, which drives the rollers from the carriage-motor, normally runs loosely over its pulleys, so as not to drive them. It is, however, equipped with a belt-tightening device fr on the upper end of a lever s, conroo nected with a lever t in proximity to the motormans seat p.

Sheets u of canvas or other material snitable for receiving advertisements thereon are wound on the rolls 7s l t/ Z, and the arrangement is such that the advertisements as the sheets are moved may be displayed through the openings in the frame e.

The construction and arrangement are such that the motorlnan upon starting the carriage by movingr t-he lever o in the proper direction may connect the pinion t' or fi', as the case may be, with the shaftj, so that when the lever tis moved to actuate the belt-tightener the sheets ou the rolls may be moved to bring a new advertisement into view in the frame c, and this may go ou intermittingly until the sheets are entirely wound upon one roll from the other, and then by moving the lever o in the opposite direction the movement of the rolls and sheets will be reversed, displaying the advertisements on the sheets in reverse order. The belt q maybe tightened interlnittingly by a cam o on the shaft of the lower pulley which drives the belt q, the said cam being constructed and arranged to act upon the belt-tightening device r, as is shown in Fig. l.

The form and arrangement of the mechanism for operating the movable advertisements or signs from the vehicle-operating motor may, however, be varied to suitcircumstances and peculiar requirements without departing from the nature or spirit of the invention, which in its broad sense con tem plates the utilization of the attractive characteristics of the motor-vehicle or horseless carriage in the production of an advertising medium by connecting the motorvehicle withan advertising contrivance movable in character and actuated in combination with the vehicle-operating means. It is the connection of a motor-vehicle with an advertising' medium which when combined substantially as hereinbefore described effects the creation of a new advertising-wagon having properties in virtue of which it attracts to it greater public attention than contrivances for similar purposes as heretofore constructed.

The motor or means for moving the advertisements or signs may be independent of the motor for running the vehicle, so that the signs may be moved and changed when the vehicle is at a standstill. This may be done by disconnecting the chain shown in the drawings from operative connection with the drivi ing-wheels of the vehicle, or the hub z5 of the sprocket-wheel over which the chain runs may run loose on its shaft, so that the chain may not be driven by the motor until the clutch part 54, splined on the shaft, is moved into engagement with the hub ,e5 by the upright shifting lever z3, as is shown in Fig. 2. The latter lever is adapted to be moved directly by hand, or it may be moved by the motorman or occupant of the seat p by the movement of the level' z, which actuates the rod e" or other suitable operative medium. l

Having thus explained the nature of the invention and described a way of constructingr and using the same, though without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use, it is declared that what is claimed isl. In a vehicle of the character described, the combination of a motor, suitable connections between the same and the running-gear of the vehicle for propelling the same, traveling display devices, and connections between the latter and the motor for successively exhibiting,r said devices, provisions existing by virtue of which the vehicle can be propelled by the motor without affecting the display devices and vice versa, and means also to operate the display devices in opposite directions.

2. In a vehicle for displaying advertisements or signs, the combination of the following instrumentalities; viz., a vehicle, a supporting-frame erected upon the same, a plurality of movable surfaces or sheets having advertisements thereon carried by said supporting-frame and visible from the outside of said vehicle, a motor mechanism carried by said vehicle and deriving its power independent of the movement'. of the vehicle, means to connect said movable surfaces with said motor mechanism to automatically7 move said surfaces independent of the movement of the said vehicle and in one direction to display the advertisements thereon and to permit said surfaces to be moved in the opposite direction, and means to effect movement of said surfaces in the opposite direction, while said motor mechanism continues to run in the same direction, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two snl'iscribing witnesses, this 25th day of February, A. D. 1899.

ARTHUR F. RANDALL.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR W. CRossLEY, ANNIE J. DAILEY.

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